Cyclones Take Down Baylor On The Road, 87-82

WACO, Texas - The Iowa State men's basketball team (18-8
overall, 8-5 Big 12) defeated Baylor (16-10 overall, 7-6 Big 12) by a score of
87-82 on Wednesday night to score a key road victory in conference play. The
Cyclones got a 22-point effort from senior Tyrus McGee, tying his career high, set earlier this season in a game against Cincinnati.

The Cyclones had a total of four players in double figures, led by McGee and Melvin Ejim, who had 20 points. The duo
combined to shoot 16 of 23 from the field. Ejim also added another
double-double to his resume as he grabbed 12 rebounds. Ejim leads the Big 12
with 11 double-doubles on the year.

McGee and freshman Georges Niang paced the Cyclones in the
first half as they each scored 11 points in a back and forth opening period.
Ejim added six points and seven rebounds as the Cyclones went into the half
with a 41-36 lead, despite 15 first-half points from Baylor's Pierre Jackson.

The second half was a series of runs, with the Cyclones
striking first and taking a 45-36 lead early in the period on a Niang layup. Baylor then went
on a 10-2 run to make the score 47-46 on a Jackson trey.

Iowa State soon answered with a 12-3 run of their own
sparked by back-to-back treys from Ejim and point guard Korie Lucious. Iowa
State took their biggest lead of the game at 64-53 on an Ejim drive for a
layup.

Baylor would not go away quietly, scoring on three
consecutive possessions before McGee and Babb closed the door on the Bears' comeback with
back-to-back three pointers stretch the Iowa State lead to 70-59 with 6:23 left in
the game.

Following McGee and Ejim, Niang (16) and Lucious (15) were
the other Cyclones in double figures. Jackson had a game-high 30 points for the
Bears on 13 of 19 shooting from the field.

The Cyclones will be back in action on Saturday at Hilton
Coliseum to take on Texas Tech at 12:45 p.m. CST.